When will we hit the mountains?

[Drivercan]

We are thinking about driving to WDW in May. We live in Brampton (just north of Toronto). We plan to do the shortest route (I77/US19/I95) route.

If we leave on a Friday around 5 pm how long will it take to get to the moutains? We don't want to drive through the mountains at night. Any hotel suggestions prior to the mountains?

Thanks.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Yes you will hit mountains leaving at that time. The hills start mid-way through WV and in earnest south of Beckley. If you want to avoid them at night, you might plan on stopping just south of Morgantown WV. Once you make it to the state line of NC, it flattens out for the rest of your trip.

Beth

 

[Mortlives]

What time are you planning on stopping for the night? Beth may have the right idea, depending, but it might be quite late by the time you stop (6:19 by Google, means it would probably be at least midnight). Getting as far as Pittsburgh might be ample driving for Friday evening (we normally stop in Fort Erie (it's about 4 hours, but with rush hour and border crossing, even leaving at 4:30 that can be 10:00pm).

According to Google maps it's 5 hours and 5 minutes from Brampton to Pittsburgh, but they want you to use the 407 (kind of expensive IMHO). And that doesn't account for rush hour or lines for customs. You'll love the drive. I highly recommend CAA for help with route planning, and hotel discounts.

 

[Drivercan]

Forgot about the border. How long is the border wait on a Friday night? Last year we left on a Sat morning and it was only about 10 mins.

 

[branmack]

You can never tell what the bridge will be like. If you are leaving on the May 24 weekend you can expect long lines. There will also be back ups if the Sabres are still playing. You can check the bridge's website for update on lines before you leave. They also have a phone line for updates.

We drove down in Sept and I would definatly stop in Morgantown WV for the night. I personally would not like travelling through the mountains at night. We arrived in Morgantown WV in 5hrs with a 15min stop in Erie PA and rush hour traffic in Pittsburgh.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Buffalo has several border crossings so you might want to check this website just prior to leaving home. One may be busy and another not so much. Here's a link. http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/ I know we've sat for as long as 3 hours on a long weekend at the Lewiston bridge and driven straight through at other times.

Beth

 

[Drivercan]

Beth - how long is the drive through the mountains?

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Not all that long. We normally stop in Beckley for the night, leaving at around 7 to 8 the next morning. It's only a couple hours to the NC state line.

Beth

 

[cslittle999]

Hi Drivercan.

We're just north of you in Orangeville. From Orangeville we get a consistent 21 hours of travel time. Instead of leaving late at night we leave at 5 am. It's about 12 hours to Charlotte, NC. The next day it's about 9 hours to Disney.

We've found that it is about five hours from the West Virginia border to the North Carolina border. The early parts of this are not bad though. I would be tempted to drive to Morgantown, WV. It should be around seven hours from Brampton.

One problem with driving through the mountains early in the morning is fog. The drive from Beckley, WV though to NC can be quite foggy on some days.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

That's very true about the morning fog. I'll bet we get it 75% of the time in the early morning. Once the sun comes up it gets burned off but prior to that, you have to be careful.

Beth

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

If you leave around 3 or 4 in the morning you should be in the mountains in the afternoon. I90, I79, us19 OBEY SPEED LIMITS,I77, I26, I95, I4. I beleive thats the route. If you drive from 3 am until about 6-7 pm you will be in Walterboro. N.C. 14 hours of driving plus stops. Thats what we are doing so we can be in Daytona beach the next day around noonish and spend the day at the beach resting so the following day we can hit the world. Or you can get to the world early afternoon the second day. We left around 3 am the last time too. We missed rush hour in all citys we passed through the frist day it was great. Enjoy your trip what ever you decide to do.

 

[kellyla]

Take a few minutes to stop at one of the lookout points in mountains.The views are incredible.

 

[laura001]

Hi Drivercan.

We're just north of you in Orangeville. From Orangeville we get a consistent 21 hours of travel time. Instead of leaving late at night we leave at 5 am. It's about 12 hours to Charlotte, NC. The next day it's about 9 hours to Disney.

We've found that it is about five hours from the West Virginia border to the North Carolina border. The early parts of this are not bad though. I would be tempted to drive to Morgantown, WV. It should be around seven hours from Brampton.

One problem with driving through the mountains early in the morning is fog. The drive from Beckley, WV though to NC can be quite foggy on some days.

So true about the fog....as a matter of fact it can get really bad at night too! Did that once, not fun! Why not plan to drive as far as Morgantown and if you feel you can't go that far, stop and stay somewhere else?

We usually leave around 3 in the morning and drive through to Georgia on our first day. The time that we left around 4 or 5 pm. we drove straight through, which worked out great! The kids slept through the night and we had breakfast in Georgia! Got to our hotel, had a swim and dinner by the pool, then went to bed early, got up in the morning to a full day at MK.

 

[A&CsMom]

We are leaving on Friday afternoon at about 2:30 pm and driving straight through, using the 90/79/19/77/26/95/4 route. We will be going through the mountains at night. Hopefully it won't be very foggy. I'll let you know what it was like when we return on May 6. We haven't encountered bad fog before -- only could see fog down in the valleys, not on the road.

 

[Mortlives]

We are leaving on Friday afternoon at about 2:30 pm

Wow, I'm jealous! Have a great trip! Looks like a long one, too.
Back from thread drift: We drove straight through, once, but I found it a little hard-going. If you're going to do that, keep your eyes open for signs on the highway going into rest areas. Sometimes they provide free coffee to keep overnight travellers alert.

BTW sunrise and sunset in the mountains can both be spectacular.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

There's one other thing along this route that no one's mentioned - deer. Tons of them. Keep your eyes open and be careful.

Beth

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Heck we had a bobcat or something big hop across the hwy in front of us years ago too. It hit the pavement a total of 3 times 2 on our side then over the cement median and once on the other side. Wife and I looked at one another and rolled up our windows. That was around midnight too.

 

[Drivercan]

When are the animals out just when it is dark?

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Deer normally are out and about from dusk until sunrise.

Beth

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Drivecan: Here is an exerpt from my July 2006 trip report. I wrote it all down!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1177380

I apologize that this part may be somewhat boring but I did take time to write it all down. Those who drive may be interested, so here is the “by the numbers” version:

8:50am – 10:25 – our house We live just south of Guelph to the U.S. Boarder
10:25 – 10:40 – Duty Free
• All Canadians must stop at Duty Free – cheap stuff! By cheap I mean inexpensive. Plus I had to pick up a small portion of Mommy “medicine” Have a Coke and a Smile at the end of the day…..I always say!

10:40 – 12:55 – Gas stop ($2.89/gal)
• This was at our most favourite station in Pennsylvania. Sheetz Gas Station. That’s just too funny to us. Say it out loud. Sheetz. We giggle every time we go there. It’s actually a real name. Steve Sheetz is the president. Really. I read it on the bathroom wall!

2:10pm – passed by Pittsburg, PA
• Major construction. But it’s Sunday. We sailed right through! “Whoopty-Doo Basil” DS’s comment for the day. He was watching Austin Powers!

Just past Pittsburg is about where the mountains start.

2:45p – 3pm – Potty Break somewhere in West Virginia
• “Almost Heaven, West Virginia……Blue Ridge Mountains”…..Thanks John!
• Picked up essential non-Canadian travel items: Hostess Orange Cupcakes, Good and Plenty Candy, and Fruit Stripe gum!

4:50p – 4:55 – Close to Summersville, WV – our favourite lookout
• Watch for it. It’s on the left side. About 5 miles on US-19 – the bi-pass to Beckley. Good for a quick 5 minute stretch….and very beautiful! If you are going to stop - this is a great place - just remember it is on the left side of the road
• Passed through Powell Mountain, WV. 2,276ft elevation.

6:10p – 7:10p – dinner stop at Beckley, WV

Beckley is a good stop point for the night as you have about 1 hour of mountain driving from here. However you usually have fog first thing in the morning
7:10p – 9:30p – Stop for the night – Jonesville, North Carolina.

Total Time: 12hours, 40 minutes.
Cost of Gas: $64.12

Places I would have visited if we had time to stop…..but we were on our way to the World.

• Dry Tavern, PA - 10 miles from Waynesburg, PA Nevermind!
• Gassaway, WV – off 1-79 – What kind of place is this???? Sometimes I need a little some of this….
• Whippoorwill Road – near Summersville, WV. Who is Will? And why did they do that to him???

We crossed the Western Hemisphere’s Longest Arch Bridge near Summersville, WV.This is also a great place to stop. They have a bridge walkway to the arch bridge and a little museum. Again, watch for it, it's on the left when travelling south
Traveled through two tunnels – East River Mountain Tunnel (about 2 km’s long) dividing West Virginia and Virginia. The Big Walker Mountain Tunnel (1.3km’s) in Virginia.

Monday July 10th

We left Jonesville, NC at 7:50am, after gassing up the car.

Interesting spot on the way:

• North Carolina’s Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Ex36 off I-77 at Mooresville, NC. Fer y’all Nazz Car fans

9:55 am – crossed into South Carolina “Smiling Faces. Beautiful Places”

Around here is where you join up with I-95 to go to Florida. We were heading to Georgia so we went I-85 that way
11:15am – crossed into Georgia “on my mind”
12:30 pm – Arrived at our Georgia destination.

Total KM’s 1,580.0
Gas: $83.59

I hope this helps.